Our topic for week 9 was ‘audiences’ – through the readings and Lectorial session we were asked to consider who the audience is, how they are involved with the media, and how the media may effect its audiences. We also examined the idea of a ‘post-broadcast era’, looking into what brought about this shift away from broadcast mediums (tv/radio). Below are some of the ideas that I found particularly helpful and/or interesting.
Broadcast Media:
Broadcast Media (television particularly) can be seen as a ‘cultural technology’ – brought into the home in a post WW2 society, the medium was seen as a way to repair much of the social damage caused by the war. It was a technology which was seen to bring the family together, entertaining and educating its audiences.
It was interesting to consider the broadcast medium as being open and public, with messages being sent by one source to many recipients. This was useful in relation to my project 4 research, as my group is investigating the features and functions of different mediums – perhaps we should also examine how private/public different mediums are as well…
A Post-Broadcast Era:
What brought about this ‘era’ in which the broadcast mediums experienced major declines in popularity? There are numerous factors which influenced this ‘shift’, I noted that many of these involved changes within pre-existing resources and institutions.
– changes in television institutions and the ‘major players’ of the medium (on demand tv, cable tv, etc.)
– vast changes in the technologies used to produce, distribute and consume the media (cheaper tech, convergence)
– a great evolution in audience practice, especially in their involvement and consumption of media
– a breakdown in the strict definitions between individual mediums
Now, to Audiences:
It was interesting to consider how the audience’s roles have changed so drastically since the earlier days of media production. As noted in the lectorial – audience members can now become involved in the discussion, sharing and even creation of a media product. The distinction between the producer and the ‘fan’ has become blurred in many ways, with audiences being able to interact with media creators like never before; via services/events such as Twitter, Reddit, conventions, competitions, crowdfunding projects, etc.
For example, numerous recent web-series/films have relied heavily on public/fan funding, to name a few; Video Game High School, Lazer Team, Wish I was Here and the Veronica Mars movie. Not only can fans contribute to the funding of these projects, often they are also rewarded for their support by being given the opportunity to play a role in the production of the product (as an extra, guest, etc).
Today I’ll share a short, and fairly simple video. Titled ‘The Audience’ – this stop-motion short provides some aesthetically pleasing light entertainment. Contrary to our discussions from week 9, it presents a ‘mass-audience’ – one in which all members are the same. I’m fairly sure that this message was not intended by the creator, I just thought it could provide an interesting visual representation of the idea of ‘mass-audiences’.